


Elegance In Motion

by rangerhitomi



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Kissing as a Distraction, M/M, Multi, Shion Blackmails Ibuki, Walking In On Someone, fancy parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26486950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: What starts as a stuffy party to celebrate a major business partnership for Shion's company ends up with Chrono sneaking out, falling into a fountain with Shion, accidentally witnessing something he wishes with all his heart he could unsee, Shion blackmailing Ibuki, and finally Shion teaching him how to dance.All in all, not a bad evening.
Relationships: Anjou Mamoru/Ibuki Kouji, Anjou Tokoha & Kiba Shion & Shindou Chrono, Kiba Shion/Shindou Chrono
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Elegance In Motion

**Author's Note:**

> shiokuro is really good and i'm very upset there isn't More Of It

He’d agreed to go to the party only because Shion had asked—and Tokoha had readily accepted on both their behalf—and not because he wanted to spend an evening in the company of uppity rich people whose shoes cost more than he made in an entire year. He loved his friends, and wanted to spend time with them, and wanted to support Shion’s success in securing some kind of contract with a big tech company in India. He just would have rather done so in a less stuffy environment. 

The tux he wore was rented, something Tokoha had helped him pick out and that Mikuru had partially financed; Tokoha herself wore a stunning green off-the-shoulder cocktail dress, and seemed to be having the time of her life as they arrived at Shion’s house together.

When they reached the front door, Shion greeted them, enthusiastically kissing both of Tokoha’s cheeks in a distinctly French way, before turning to Chrono and shaking his hand with both of his. 

“What, no kiss for me?” Chrono said, intending it to be sarcastic, but Shion tilted his head and smiled, blue eyes glittering mischievously, and it was infuriating how charming he was while doing it. 

“Why, do you want one?”

Chrono rolled his eyes as Tokoha giggled and walked past Shion to where Iwakura waited to escort them into the party. 

It took place in a large room, almost like a ballroom, already filled with overdressed people chatting in groups in the middle of the floor. The refreshment tables along the walls were filled with sparkling glasses, hor d'oeuvres, slabs of meat and fish and vegetables and fruits that Chrono had never seen before. Iwakura waved them on with the invitation to help themselves to the food and slipped out, replaced by Shion moments later. 

“Would you like something to eat?” he suggested, holding out his arm for Tokoha. 

“Please.”

“Chrono?”

“Nah, I’ll just… get something to drink...”

He slunk off toward the drink table and nearly bumped into a short woman wearing an elegant blue saree, something he only recognized because Mikuru had been obsessed with travel magazines when he was younger. She sized him up after he apologized and spoke to him, though as it was in English, he only grasped “are you,” something, something, and Shion’s name. She had a very angled eyebrow raised at him and despite him being several inches taller, he felt like she was very much bigger than him.

“Uh…” He looked around for Shion to get him out of this situation, but he and Tokoha were already deep in conversation at a table halfway across the room, loading their plates with crab legs and fruit. 

He regretted being an unmotivated student and cast around in his memory for the barest bit of English he could find.

_“Sorry,”_ he said slowly, _“I do not speak English.”_

She made a humming sound and turned away from him, glass of some pink liquid in hand, and floated off to some other person standing several feet away.

“Would you like something to drink?” one of the waiters asked him.

If the whole evening was going to be like this, it was going to be rough. “Will you let me have wine?”

“How old are you?”

“Don’t you let Shion drink wine? I'm older than him by a month.”

The waiter narrowed his eyes. Chrono sighed.

“Juice, then.”

When he turned away with his drink in hand, he almost bumped into someone else—though this time, he felt no immediate need to apologize.

It was Ibuki, dressed in a too-tight white suit and red tie with his long hair pulled back in a braid, and Mamoru, dressed in a black tuxedo with a green bow tie that matched his shade of hair. Tokoha hadn’t mentioned Mamoru coming to this party and Chrono couldn’t think of a reason Shion would have specifically invited him or Ibuki, as they were Shion’s mentors rather than friends.

“I see you’ve met Mrs. Bhargava already,” Ibuki commented, staring into his wine. 

“Who?"

“The president of the company,” Mamoru supplied. 

“What comp—oh.” The company that they were here to celebrate the partnership with. _That_ company. “Oh,” he said again, because he didn’t have anything else to say. 

“Is there any reason Shion invited you if you’re going to be rude to his guest of honor?” Ibuki asked. 

Chrono had to unclench his jaw before responding. “Any reason he invited _you_?”

Ibuki took a sip of his wine and made a face before handing it off to Mamoru. “Too sweet.” 

“It’s the least sweet wine here,” Mamoru said, but he took the drink from Ibuki and sipped it anyway. 

“Are you _ignoring me_?” 

Ibuki straightened his tie. Despite being a full adult, Ibuki somehow managed to look like he was in a high school uniform; the white suit with red tie reminded Chrono of Fukuhara’s uniform. This level of formality was clearly uncomfortable for him. “If you must know, the partnership is for an advanced integrated reality system that will be used for a number of virtual reality projects, including for FICA tournaments.”

Chrono vaguely recalled Shion mentioning something about that. “So, the Association is part of this, too?”

“Yes,” Mamoru chimed in, a little too loudly, having finished Ibuki’s abandoned wine. “We’ve been working with the Kiba Corporation to develop such a system.”

“One that won’t end up like GIRS, ideally,” Ibuki muttered, tugging at his tie again.

“You’d better not let it,” Chrono warned, “it was a big enough headache last time.”

Rather than dismissing Chrono’s unenforceable threat, Ibuki seemed troubled, eyebrows coming together. Maybe there _was_ some kind of issue. Or maybe Ibuki still felt bad for what he did before. Either way, it was Ibuki’s problem this time.

Mamoru rested a hand on Ibuki’s shoulder, giving Ibuki a small smile when Ibuki glanced over his shoulder at him. “You seem a little out of it, Ibuki. Do you want to step out for some air?”

“Mm.” Ibuki gave Chrono a dismissive half-wave. “Later.”

“See you, Chrono.” Mamoru’s hand slid from Ibuki’s shoulder as they headed toward the exit, Mamoru standing a little too close to Ibuki and walking a little too unsteadily.

Too much wine, Chrono thought; Tokoha had mentioned her brother got tipsy too easily. He’d never considered what a drunk Anjou Mamoru looked like until he saw Mamoru lean into Ibuki’s shoulder so heavily that Ibuki had to prop him up by the waist and walk unsteadily out the door with him.

Oddly, Ibuki didn’t seem to mind.

Chrono thought about following them out—he had more questions about the VR system—but maybe it wasn’t his business; he was here as a guest of Shion’s, and speaking of Shion…

The live string quintet started on an upbeat piece. Several people set down their wine glasses and plates and moved to the spacious center of the floor, including Shion and Tokoha.

Tokoha was a good dancer; Chrono pinned her for the kind of girl who had taken lessons at some point in her life (maybe he should ask her about it later). But Shion… Shion was _elegant._

Of _course_ he would know how to dance. The Kiba family would never have named him the heir of the company if he were unable to perform such a basic social function. On top of fencing, his studies, athletics, etiquette, Vanguard—all things at which Shion excelled—there was no way he wouldn’t be able to dance.

He spun Tokoha and caught her around the waist in a seamless movement, feet trailing across the floor as though walking on air. Tokoha kept up, letting him lift her by the waist and transitioning into an equally seamless dip, her dress floating up and down with each spin, each dip, each lift.

Artistic. Enchanting.

_Beautiful._

He couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of his friends.

“They look like they’re having fun,” someone said behind him, and when Chrono tore his eyes away, he realized that Iwakura was standing not three feet away.

“Y-yeah…”

“Are you not?”

Truthfully, no. It had been an uncomfortable evening. He didn’t want to say anything, lest he sound ungrateful or rude—many of his peers would have killed to be able to attend a private Kiba party.

Fortunately, Iwakura was attentive. “If you’d like some fresh air, the gardens are open.” He gestured toward the doors leading out to the patio in the back of the room, closest to them.

Chrono jumped on the opportunity to get out of the stuffy room. “Yeah. I’ll do that. Thanks.”

“Of course.”

He managed to slip out, unnoticed or ignored by the stuffy rich people loitering around the wine table and let out a sigh of relief upon the cool air hitting his face.

There were very few people outside; most of them loitered by the doors on the patio, sipping wine and talking about yachts or holidays in Greece or whatever it was rich people talked about with other rich people. Chrono walked past them, toward the large marble fountain in the middle of the courtyard.

It was quieter here, away from the party, and when he dipped his hand in the fountain, he found the water comfortably warm. He took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and laid on his stomach on the edge of the fountain, dipping his arm to the elbow in the water. His eyes closed contentedly.

He had barely drifted off when he heard his name. He groaned and looked up.

Shion marched across the grounds with his hands flexing as though itching to put them around someone’s neck, and Chrono reflexively pulled his hand out of the water.

“You look pissed.”

“I came out here looking for the Director,” Shion said with more than a hint of irritation. “He and Mamoru skipped out before the collaboration announcement. I had to apologize for their mysterious absence.”

“Oh.” Chrono scratched his head. “I think Mamoru got a little tipsy, so they came outside for some air.”

Shion clicked his tongue. “That’s unusually irresponsible of him.”

“They’re out here somewhere.” Chrono glanced around for some sight of them but saw no one else. “Maybe if your gardens weren’t bigger than most public parks…”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Shion shook his head dramatically. “I know Ibuki didn’t want to come tonight, but I didn’t think he’d bail on the one thing I asked him to do.”

Shion was getting worked up, so Chrono gestured at the space next to him on the fountain, which Shion flopped on ungracefully. “Where’s Tokoha?”

“Dazzling my guest of honor with her mastery of the French language.”

“Guest of honor? That Indian lady, right?”

“Mrs. Bhargava, yes. She speaks French too. Did you meet her?”

Chrono didn’t really want to admit that his interaction with her had been less impressive than Tokoha’s, but Shion seemed miffed about Ibuki still, so he chanced it at a joke. “Er… I guess you could say I didn’t dazzle her with my mastery of the English language.”

Shion turned his head, very, very slowly. “You…”

“She asked me something about you. ‘Are you’ something, something, Shion. The word was like…”

He sounded it out a few times until Shion’s eyes widened. He repeated the word.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Chrono.”

“What.”

Shion’s look of irritation had been fully replaced by bewilderment, and now disbelief. “You...”

“What!”

“Friend!” Shion gasped out. “The word was friend!”

In hindsight, this made sense. _Are you a friend of Shion’s_ or something similar. A completely normal question to ask a teenager at a party for adults. She might have thought he’d snuck in somehow and was trying to figure out why he was even there.

“Oh my god, Chrono!” Shion was laughing now, so hard that tears fell down his face.

“I don’t think it was _that_ funny.”

“That’s like, first grade English! How did you not—”

Chrono tutted. “In my defense, she had a strong accent.”

Shion leaned into him, continuing to laugh over Chrono’s indignant objections, but when Chrono went to prop himself up with his still-wet hand, it slid on the marble—

“Ah—oh!”

—and promptly fell back into the fountain, with Shion tumbling in on top of him.

The water was only eight or so inches deep, which was the only good thing about this situation, and Chrono wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be indignant, especially since Shion was still straddling him with his mouth open in surprise and as they stared at each other Shion seemed to have a harrowing revelation.

“Is your suit going to need to be dry-cleaned?”

Chrono’s first thought was _are you serious?_ followed by _no, he’s completely serious_ and his third, completely unrelated thought was the one that came out of his mouth: “I hit my ass bone on the bottom of this thing.”

Shion’s shoulders shook, and before Chrono knew it, Shion was practically lying on him as he laughed, pressing the aforementioned ass bone into the fountain’s marble bottom. All Shion’s irritations toward Ibuki seemed to vanish as he did so, for which Chrono was grateful, but…

…his butt still did hurt, so he finally managed to pry Shion off enough to sit up in the water. Every part of him was soaked, as was every part of Shion; he slid a little as he stood, holding himself on the statue centerpiece (some kind of tacky abstract shape only rich people liked) as he helped Shion to his feet.

“Ah…” Shion wiped his eyes, still laughing. Chrono hadn’t seen him this amused by something mundane since the time he and Tokoha taught him the joy of drawing on people’s faces with permanent marker while they slept. “What a mess. Let’s go get some clean clothes on.”

“I only have one suit,” Chrono reminded him while they walked. “And where are we going?”

They walked around the house, away from the party. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I can find something that’ll fit you. And we’re not cutting through the house, Chrono. Someone will see us.”

“So, what, we’re sneaking in the back way?”

“Exactly.”

The house was probably more square meters than Chrono’s aunt’s entire apartment complex, so it took a few minutes to get out of the gardens and toward the unlit side of the house, presumably where they would be able to get in unnoticed.

“It’s just over here,” Shion said as they finally reached the edge of this one ungodly long wall.

But Chrono heard the lilting laughter before they even rounded the corner.

“—going to be too small.”

“They didn’t have a bigger size.”

Shion grabbed Chrono’s hand and pulled him back before Chrono was in view of the speakers. When Chrono opened his mouth to protest, Shion put a finger to his own lips and shook his head, pressing himself against the wall, a clear intent to eavesdrop.

“Shion,” Chrono began in a low voice, but his complaint fell into nothingness when he heard Ibuki’s voice again.

“—a little drunk.”

“I know.” It was Mamoru. He sounded wistful. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. We can go sit by the fountain for a bit if you’d like.”

“Can we…”

They fell silent. Chrono had the burning urge to see what was going on and enough self-control to know it was none of his business.

Shion, however, had only the former, and peeked his head around the wall.

“Oh,” he breathed. “ _Oh._ ”

Chrono’s self-control evaporated as he leaned over Shion to see what was happening.

He saw only the end of the kiss, Ibuki tucking an errant strand of Mamoru’s hair behind his ear, Mamoru leaning away with his arms both draped around Ibuki’s shoulders. It was only the end of the kiss, but it was more than enough for him to momentarily forget that he was supposed to be quiet and blurt out “what the _fu_ —”

…before Shion pulled him back, hand over Chrono’s mouth, but the damage was done, and they both froze as Ibuki’s voice filled the gardens.

“Hello?”

“Damn,” Shion muttered, and his sharp eyes saw exactly what Chrono’s did—they would not be able to get away fast enough to avoid Ibuki spotting or hearing them. They would have to face the embarrassment of being caught peeping on a private moment between the Director and Associate Director of the Vanguard Association (or rather, Chrono would be embarrassed and Shion would be able to act like nothing was wrong, because Chrono was sure Shion had already reached peak levels of humiliation in his life with the Ace Corporation thing and no longer knew what embarrassment was).

While Chrono had resigned himself to the inevitable embarrassment, Shion had not. He instead grabbed Chrono by the shoulders, apologized, and pushed Chrono against the wall.

Chrono’s brain short-circuited as Shion kissed him, a full lips-on-lips, hands on Chrono’s chest, bodies pressed together endeavor that felt unlike anything Chrono could have imagined, with the result that when Ibuki and Mamoru rounded the corner at last, Chrono’s knees were weak and his hands were gripping Shion’s waist for support.

“Oh,” a voice said, cutting through the fog in Chrono’s brain; yes, that was Mamoru, Chrono realized as he steadily returned to Earth, he just saw this happen, didn’t he.

Ibuki just stared as Shion pulled slowly away, making eye contact with them, all the while placing his hands on either side of Chrono against the wall.

“There you are,” Shion said, calm as anything, as if he hadn’t just been found macking on his former teammate while both of them were dripping wet, “I was looking for you.”

“Were you,” Mamoru said placidly, not looking at him.

“Yes,” Shion said evenly, one hand still pressed against the wall, trapping Chrono just inches from his body, “I did find you just a few minutes ago, but you were preoccupied.”

The color drained from Ibuki’s face. It took Mamoru a few more seconds to process the accusation.

“Ah,” Ibuki said finally. It was only now that Chrono realized that he wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore, and that Mamoru was holding it like a security blanket.

Mamoru glanced at the sky. “That’s…”

Chrono desperately wanted to say something, but doing so would bring attention to the fact that Shion was still pinning him to the wall. Not that it stopped Ibuki from glancing his way.

“You,” Ibuki said, “you and…”

“Me and my teammate, my peer.” Shion finally pulled his arm away. Chrono’s legs were dangerously close to giving out, so he pressed his own hands against the wall for support. “Whereas you…”

Chrono didn’t know the rules at the Vanguard Association, whether fraternization of coworkers was even allowed or if it was something they could be punished for, but the thought of any of the Branch Chiefs finding out about the Director having a relationship with a Clan Leader… sounded unpleasant.

“Well,” Ibuki said, shoulders slumped in a very un-Ibuki way, “I guess we’re at a stalemate.”

“Oh, no.” Shion smiled brightly. Chills ran down Chrono’s spine. “Chrono and I are not coworkers. Neither of us are each other’s boss, and any relationships I have are perfectly acceptable in the public sphere. This is not a stalemate, Director Ibuki.”

Chrono supposed that being able to blackmail other people would come easily to someone who had both been blackmailed and oversaw entire sectors of a multi-billion yen company, but it was fascinating to watch in practice, especially since Ibuki was also very practiced at manipulation.

“Very good, Shion,” Ibuki muttered, but under his grumpy voice he looked someone proud of him. “What are your terms?”

“Go back inside and mingle,” Shion said promptly, “and apologize to Mrs. Bhargava for taking off before the announcement. You can leave the party at ten, after which I don’t care which one of your apartments you go back to.”

Mamoru and Ibuki gave each other two very different looks, Ibuki’s contemplative and Mamoru’s apologetic.

“That’s fair,” Ibuki said.

“Oh.” Mamoru stopped and turned back to them. “I know we don’t have much leeway asking for a favor but… don’t tell Tokoha.”

“I won’t,” Shion replied, “but you should,” and Mamoru nodded before following close behind Ibuki again.

When the pair was out of earshot, Shion shook his head, clearly amused. “Like I want to be the one to tell Tokoha her brother is screwing Ibuki Kouji.”

“Not exactly something I want to think about, either,” Chrono said, letting himself slide to the ground.

“I wonder how long they’ve been together?” Shion tapped his chin thoughtfully.

“ _I_ don’t,” Chrono said darkly. “Anyway, what the hell just happened.”

Shion joined him, crossing his legs at the ankles. He was clearly unconcerned about his Gucci suit being ruined (at least, Chrono assumed it was Gucci. Or rather, that was the only fancy rich person clothing line he could think of, so he just had an image in his head of a closet somewhere in the house just full of Gucci suits). “I just blackmailed the Director of the Vanguard Association and the Kagero Clan Leader?”

“I got that part,” Chrono said. He fidgeted. “I mean, before that.”

“We watched them making out?”

Chrono elbowed Shion in the ribs. Shion wheezed a little with laughter. “Kiba Shion, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“I know, I know.” Shion leaned his head back and closed his eyes, smiling. “It was that kiss you asked for earlier.”

So much had just happened that Chrono had to think for nearly a minute before recalling their arrival at the Kiba estate.

_No kiss for me?_

_Why, do you want one?_

Shion let Chrono think about it in silence and when it finally clicked, Chrono groaned and buried his head in his hands. Shion kind of gave Chrono a little pat on the shoulder.

“I’ve always thought of you as my best friend,” Shion said. “You know. My best rival.”

“Me too.”

“I thought, I don’t really want to humiliate Director Ibuki.”

“See, that’s where we differ.”

Shion laughed. “I know. But in my line of work, it can be exhausting to have too much power over someone you get along with and respect, you see? Plus, I respect Mamoru too much to blackmail him. I figured it would be easier for all of us if I leveled the field a little.”

“By kissing me?”

Shion tilted his head at Chrono. For the first time that night, he had a hint of anxiety in the way he lifted his eyebrows. “Was it… bad?”

“No,” Chrono said, way too quickly.

“Hm.” Shion relaxed, leaning his head on Chrono’s shoulder. “I’m glad.”

Chrono shrugged his shoulder. “Hey, hey pretty rich boy, I’m not a pillow.”

“Oh?” Shion smiled as he leaned closer again. Chrono’s heart pounded. “You think I’m pretty?”

“Too pretty for your own good.” Chrono’s voice was strained. Somehow, he felt weaker at Shion’s mercy now than ten minutes ago. “Always have been.”

Shion’s hands were now on either side of Chrono’s hips, straddling him. Chrono’s mouth went dry. _What am I supposed to do in this situation?_ he wondered, because despite Shion’s still-damp hair and smudged mascara and dirty suit, he was…

The image of Shion dancing with Tokoha flashed in his mind.

“And elegant,” he managed.

“You’re not half bad yourself, Shindou,” Shion whispered back.

When Shion kissed him again, it was slower, deeper, rhythmic, like gentle waves on a warm beach washing up to shore, then back toward the sea. Each time Shion pulled away, Chrono wanted desperately to feel his lips again and leaned forward expectantly. Shion simply laughed into the kiss and kept going.

It couldn’t last long; Shion was the host of the party, and his absence would be noticed the longer he was gone, especially if Mamoru and Ibuki had returned. Chrono knew this, and he wished it didn’t have to end. But it did, because they needed to change and get back to the party.

Maybe afterward, they could…

* * *

“Where have you been?” Tokoha seemed mildly surprised to see Chrono and Shion return together, Chrono in a different suit and Shion in an exact copy of the suit he had been wearing earlier.

“Getting some fresh air,” Shion said. “Is your brother around?”

“Yeah… somewhere… there.” She gestured with her glass toward a table in the back, where Mamoru was deep in conversation with a group of executives from the Indian company as Ibuki kept indiscreetly checking his watch. “I think Ibuki is ready to go home.”

“I bet he is,” Chrono muttered, taking the glass from her hand and sipping the juice in it.

“Get your own. And where is your suit?”

“Ah—”

“He fell in the fountain,” Shion replied.

Tokoha snorted into her juice. Chrono frowned at Shion. “Wow, way to go.”

“Shut up.”

The quintet started up a slow waltz, and Chrono could practically hear Ibuki groan from across the room.

“Ah!” Shion clapped his hands together. “Shostakovich!”

“Bless… you?”

“The composer, Chrono!” Shion shook his head as he reached for Chrono’s hand to drag him onto the dance floor. “Honestly, I’ll make a cultured man out of you, yet.”

“Good luck with that,” Tokoha called after them, not bothering to hide her delighted smile.

_I hate you,_ Chrono mouthed at her, and she blew a kiss in return.

Regardless of how bad a dancer Chrono was, Shion’s graceful balance and poise kept the dance from becoming a spectacle; Chrono only stepped on Shion’s foot three times throughout the waltz, which he was proud of. And with every twirl and dip and lift, Chrono found himself more and more enchanted by his rival.

By the end of the night, he danced three more times with Shion and twice with Tokoha, ate a curry dish so spicy he couldn’t taste the next three things he ate, and laughed furtively with Shion when, at exactly ten o’clock, Ibuki and Mamoru darted out of the hall. And when time came for Chrono and Tokoha to leave, Shion gave them both a good-night kiss on the cheeks (with maybe a little caress across Chrono’s collarbones for good measure) and a whispered _come back tomorrow for your suit_ in Chrono’s ear.

Despite everything, it wasn’t such a bad night, in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> don't worry, ibuki and mamoru go home after the party and smang, they'll get over their embarrassment pretty quickly


End file.
